Help Me Make it Through the Night
by skiniminni
Summary: Songfic to Help Me Make it Through the Night. Takes place after Professor McGonagall returns to the castle in Order of the Phoenix.


A/N: This is a rather short piece. Granted most of my pieces are pretty short, but this one is short even for me. 

I don't own the song which was written by Kris Kristofferson (that sexy Rhodes' scholar). I'm just borrowing it. I'm also borrowing the characters from JK Rowling.

Thanks to all who reviewed _Behind Closed Doors_.

Also, if you don't like the idea of Minerva and Albus together, then don't read fics about them. I'm sure that you can find something better to do with your time.

_Take the ribbon from your hair_

_Shake it loose and let it fall_

_Layin' soft upon my skin_

_Like the shadows on the wall_

_Come and lay down by my side_

_Till the early morning light_

_All I'm takin' is your time_

_Help me make it through the night._

Standing in front of the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office Professor McGonagall sighed deeply. It was good to be back at Hogwart's. It seemed that she had arrived right in the nick of time too. She managed to sweep in and keep Snape from draining her Gryffindors of all their rubies. Poor Harry! He looked so dejected when she entered, and she was sure that he would suffer from Sirius's death for quite some time. He barely smiled when she triumphed over Snape, and got rid of Crabbe and Goyle by sending them to take her things to her office. Minerva smirked. The look on Snape's face when she entered the castle was priceless. He was shocked. He tried so hard to look happy to see her. She knew that it was a ruse. He loathed her as much as she loathed him, and they both knew it. McGonagall lifted her hand to knock on the door, and hesitated. She glanced ruefully at her walking stick, and wrinkled her nose, as if the very smell of the wood disgusted her. Shelving her pride, she knocked on the door. There was no answer. She knocked again. Still no answer. Minerva tentatively pushed the door open. It was unlocked. The sight that met her eyes when she opened the door shocked and appalled her. Albus sat slumped at his desk with his head in his hands. His silver ornaments that usually sat whizzing on the table were broken and strewn all over the room. The office was dark except for the light of a few scattered candles. Minerva tried to approach Albus silently, but her walking stick gave her away. Damn! He looked up from his desk with a tear-stained face, and smiled weakly.

"You're home."

"I am."

"How are you feeling?"

"Well."

The silence was deafening.

"Albus," Minerva began tentatively, coming around to stand next to him, "What on earth happened here?"

Albus looked down at his hands. "Harry."

"Harry did this?"

He nodded in response. "He blames me for Sirius's death." Albus ran a hand over his face. "I blame myself for Sirius's death." He stared blankly at the wall.

Minerva put her hand on his shoulder. "It isn't your fault Albus. You have to know that."

"I kept him caged up like an animal."

"For his own good…Albus, Sirius and I we're cut from the same cloth. It was his own impetuous nature that got him killed. Just as it was my nature that got me stunned. It's my own fault that I have to walk with this infernal stick. You can't blame yourself."

"But I do."

Albus was staring at the wall again. Minerva hated to see him like this, so forlorn, pitying himself. He needed a distraction. Suddenly Minerva knew what she had to do. She reached up into her hair, and began to remove the pins. Holding all of her hairpins in her hand, Minerva put them down on the desk. Hearing the clink, Albus looked at the area of the desk where the pins were lying, and where her hand rested. Confusion blanketed his face. His eyes followed her arm up to her face. Minerva was beautiful. He'd never seen her with her hair down before. As far as he knew no one ever had. His face became even more confused, when Minerva reached out to pull him up from his chair. There was a look in her eyes…a sort of determined look that both frightened and intrigued him.

_I don't care what's right or wrong_

_I don't try to understand_

_Let the devil take tomorrow_

_Lord, tonight I need a friend_

_Yesterday is dead and gone and tomorrow's out of sight_

_And it's sad to be alone_

_Help me make it through the night._

Minerva lifted a hand to caress his cheek.

"What…"

Minerva pressed a finger to his lips to silence him, and slowly replaced her finger with her lips. She placed a soft, gentle, lingering kiss on his lips. He looked stunned. Keeping eye contact, Minerva began to unclasp his robes.

He gently grabbed her hand, forcing her to halt her actions. "We can't do this."

Removing her hand from his grasp, and nodding slightly, all the while keeping searing eye contact with him, Minerva began to unclasp her own robes. Albus couldn't look away from Minerva's eyes. The look of determination was there and it had intensified, but there was something else too…a sort of fire deep within her darkened eyes that unnerved him completely. He watched as her robe slid off of her body and pooled around her feet. She was left standing in just a slip. She was lovely. She moved toward Albus and kissed him tentatively. Albus pulled her body tighter to his, and deepened the kiss. His hands roved through her gorgeous hair, and her hands diligently worked to free him of his robe. The feeling of Minerva pulling on his earlobe ended his coherent thought, and he gave himself up to sensation.

_I don't care what's right or wrong_

_I don't try to understand_

_Let the devil take tomorrow_

_Lord, tonight I need a friend_

_Yesterday is dead and gone and tomorrow's out of sight_

_Lord, it's bad to be alone _

_Help me make it through the night. _


End file.
